


Hold

by GalaxyGazing



Series: Long Roads Lead to the Country [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Comfort, Gentle Sex, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:34:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25304605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyGazing/pseuds/GalaxyGazing
Summary: Ed’s hands are warm and real and, best of all, human.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric/Edward Elric
Series: Long Roads Lead to the Country [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166675
Comments: 5
Kudos: 74





	Hold

**Author's Note:**

> Related to my previous work: Long Roads Lead to the Country

Ed’s hands are warm and real and, best of all, _human._ These days, they’re slightly rough from learning the trades of manual labor in lieu of alchemy, but Al adores them even more for that.

One is always thrown around Al’s his back to hold him close. Ed likes to cling, fingers splayed and pressing into Al's damp shoulder blades, never wanting Al’s lips to be too far from his own. He enjoys the luxury to press his forehead into the crook of his brother's shoulder when Al quickens. He needs to feel Al’s breath hot in his ear when Al dips his head low.

The other hand tangles in Al’s hair, fingernails lightly scratching the short hairs at the nape. Sometimes Ed will cup the back of Al’s neck to lower him down when he needs to be kissed through the best of it. Al loves how those fingers curl and guide him.

Ed isn’t one for talking much like this but the sounds that do escape him almost always break on Al’s name alone. _God_ isn’t invited into these moments; this intimacy is too pure, too holy, even for him. They had one devotion and that was to each other.

“Alphonse…” Ed says, desperately soft.

For a word spoken so quietly, its heat burned pleasantly warm by Al's cheek. It is an ironic sort of beauty, he thinks, that someone so nonreligious should have hair spread like a golden halo beneath him on the sheets. Ed's bangs fall in his eyes now and then with the movement and eventually a few strands stick to his forehead with sweat.

Al closes his eyes, tenderly kisses Ed's temple, and keeps his thrusts shallow for now. 

The sting of cool metal cuts through the heat as Ed locks his heels around Al's waist. Of course, Al never minds the sensation; every bit of touch was so welcome. Ed navigates life by putting Al first at all times and, therefore, Al absolutely craves all moments when Ed is too far lost in his own pleasure to remember to be _polite_ about his last limb of automail.

The clumsy bumping of metal to flesh means that Al is driving him towards the sort of fulfillment that is good enough to blur his focus. The hand at the base of his neck guides them for a hungry kiss. Ed’s brow is furrowed and so Al knows to quicken just a bit. When they separate for breath, they’re close enough that their noses just touch, lightly bumping against one another.

“Need you,” Ed says.

“You have me,” Al tells him.

Al's heart melts to hear Ed admit he _needs_ anything. He loves knowing that he can do this for him—give him that deep sort of comfort that let them revel in tangibility and the _realness_ of having their bodies back. Ed has always protected him, but in these moments, Al could be the one to keep him sheltered and safe.

Ed’s breath gets ragged as Al finds the right sort of rhythm. Even after all this time, Ed never entirely adjusts to the stretch of the intrusion. Al always has to be slow with him when they first start, but it’s not something either of them want to rush. Both of them need this to feel grounded and so they take their time. Al works into Ed with a learned precision and it has Ed breathing harder.

Never again would they be dragged apart. They had nothing but time now. Time to heal and bond and make up for all the moments when they couldn’t feel the other, couldn't hold him against their chest. Al kisses into Ed’s neck when Ed pulls him closer, pressing his lips to where the corner of his jaw meets his ear. The metal heel at his backside has warmed now.

But again, it's those _hands_ that Al appreciates the most. The same hands that had drawn a circle in chalk all those years ago, the one hand that had been sacrificed to bring him back...and Al couldn't think of a larger declaration of love if he tried. His only goal in life, now and forever, was to ensure Ed knew just how fiercely that love was returned.

Ed retracts the arm around Al's back to reposition it to his cheek, then slides the other from the back of his neck to the other side, and cups Al's face between them. He kisses him like he's steadfast on never parting them. Five years of being physically separated was too long, and _never_ again would they be, if either brother had anything to say about it.

To soothe the desperation, Al takes Ed's right hand from his face and laces his fingers with his own, which seems to be acceptable to him since Ed squeezes it tight on the mattress. At last, Al finds the pace that will finish them.

Even afterwards, it takes Ed a while to slowly release his hold on Al's fingers. While they recover, Al dips his head to plant a few kisses on the scar that remains on Ed's right shoulder to this day.

Delicately, they unlace their hands. Al brushes his thumb over Ed's wrist to draw out that last bit of touch. Ed blinks back to cognizance and uses that same hand to guide Al's head to his lips, pressing a kiss to his forehead that lasts long enough for Al to really savor it. 

"Love you," Ed says, voice a little clearer now. He is still relaxed but Al can tell he is quickly returning to protective big brother mode and that makes him smile softly. They were both hopeless in that way, he supposed. There is nothing one wouldn't do to protect the other.

"Love you _so much_ ," Al echoes.

\--

The End


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